Promote Don’t Quote
The difference between promoting versus quoting is control. Have you ever felt out of control as a salesperson? Have you ever felt you are running hither and yon for “potential” customers and “potential” business with little or no results? That’s why promoting instead of quoting is where it’s at if we want to control our selling time and our income.
I. Set ourselves up as a partners/experts
When we make a proposal to our customers we are telling them that we are expert at what we do. When we ask them what they are looking for or how we can help them, we set ourselves up as “quotron units” and shopping services. There are customers who want those kinds of sellers. We must lead the customers that want to be led, convert those we can, and jettison the rest. The “rest” in this instance is any customer that just wants a price. We need customers that are looking for solutions, not prices. Our customers can get prices from the internet, they buy solutions from us.
II. We set the tone
When we propose, we set the tone of the meetings we have with our customers. For example, many times customers will try, what I call, The Bum Rush. They will ask us a bunch of questions in succession, and then kick us to the curb without even listening to what we have to say. We use the turnaround to fight The Bum Rush.
Example: Customer: “What’s your price on these? Us: “We have great prices on these, how many are you looking for?”
When we enter conversations in “may I help you” mode, we open ourselves up to The Bum Rush and many other “tones” that don’t work for us. In public speaking we should control the room, lighting, noise, seating etc. The same can be said of sales presentations and sales conversations. Leading through promotion of product will set a favorable tone for us, and will lead to more profitable sales.
III. We save time
When we promote product to our customers, we are promoting something we are already doing successfully somewhere else. We have done our research ahead of time and know that what we are proposing to our customer will work for them based on past experience with other customers. (Or past experience of others in our company.) When we chase new items or unfamiliar territory for our customers frequently we are chasing something we aren’t great at. It is fine to blaze trails. (create new business segments) Some blazing of trails can be done through the pursuit of customer RFQ, but it is often a quagmire of wasted time, frustration and low profitability. New business will also have a higher rate of claims almost by definition, so make sure you‘re blazing the trail, and that the trail’s not blazing you.
IV. We control when and how
When we say, “Let me work up an idea that I know will save you money. I should be able to meet with you on this next Tuesday (or tomorrow), how does that work for you?” we have set the time and the agenda. Now we make a good plan and Close!
V. We create exclusivity
When we promote our plan, product or solution to our customers we gain exclusivity. No one else can promote our service or product exactly the way we can. A friend of mine, Sam Fox, says, “Be yourself, no one can beat you at that”, and he is right. The same can be said for sales presentations. Propose something! Be somebody! Present your product in a way that works for your customer. By proposing we show our customers we care about them. We show our customers that we have thought about them and their desires ahead of time, and that we have a leadership plan for their individual situation.
VI. We control price
When we ask our customers what they want instead of giving them our solution, we also give them control of price. When we promote our unique solution, and make it sound so good our customers want it, we control price. There is a time to do needs analysis with our customers. But many sellers finish with needs analysis and then say, “So, what do you want to buy?” In this instant these sellers have relinquished all price control to their customer. We need to do a very thorough job of needs analysis and then do a thorough job of working up a solution – proposal that works for our customers. Plan B. We don’t always get the price we want. But (us) setting an original price will always bring us a better final price that letting our customers set the original price. Note: Just because we come in with a well thought out proposal doesn’t mean we aren’t ready to do business. We stay open to your customers. Once they begin to tinker with our proposal, we have the order; it’s just a matter of how profitable it will be.
VII. We do what we do best –our competitive advantage
Why work on things we aren’t good at when we can work at things we are good at? Two reasons: 1. There can be profit in new products. 2. There can be less competition (for customers and business). Be very careful with these two reasons. Many times we move towards trail blazing because we are reluctant to do the hard work it takes to compete in the “mainstream” market. When we promote, we promote what we have already had success with. This will raise our hit percentage. We can reinvent the wheel once we’re up and running. Until then, we should have a healthy dose of promoting the tried and true products that are already working for our customers. Be open to new markets yes, but also rely on past successes by ourselves and others in our company to tell us what we should be promoting to our current and prospective customers.
VIII. We streamline our selling process
When we promote something that works, we can promote it in a repeatable way. When we chase customer inquiry, we run from one thing to another all of which can be different. When we promote, much of the detail work (that we love as sales people) can be done ahead of time. Often we can create templates of proposals and change the details to fit each of our clients. This makes us more efficient, assures quality and makes our life easier. Working up proposals for new business (and getting it!) is an important and exciting part of being in sales, but we must make sure our balance is right.
IX. Our presentation becomes expert
Selling, promoting, Closing is exacting work. Timing is crucial to success. The difference between getting an order and not is often a small, subtle thing. When we promote our product, our idea, in a repetitive way, our overall presentation becomes tighter. Our timing becomes better. We learn which phrases cool customers off. We learn which phrases bring results. We learn, and thus can anticipate, the questions our proposal will generate. We polish our presentation until our Closing percentage increases, then we keep polishing.
To take control of our selling careers, we need to Promote not Quote!